WASHINGTON, DC: A fortnight ago, US Senator from Oklahoma James Inhofe derided, debunked and disparaged former US Vice-President and leading environment activist Al Gore during his historic testimony to the US Senate on how, among other things, the world has just 10 years to change the way it lives to save itself from the ravages of climate change. Over the Easter weekend, however, the US Senator may have had a chance to revise his opinion.

Two weeks into the spring season, more than one-third of the country received unseasonal snow showers in one of the weirdest weather patterns seen in the US over the last 50 years. Both Saturday and Sunday saw one of the lowest April temperatures recorded in the last few decades. The Washington capital region had not seen snow in April for 17 years, and even parts of Texas received snow showers. Freeze warnings were issued for most of the eastern United States, and several highways reported dangerous driving conditions. The US-23 highway was shut down on Saturday as the level of ice kept rising.

Coming only a day after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report that painted a grim picture of a world affected by global warming and a week after the US Supreme Court snubbed the George W Bush administration by declaring that global warming is real, Americans now feel genuinely concerned about the phenomenon.